Yoga at Home: Amazing, Soothing Yoga Neck Rolls! Good for Insomnia

 

During my previous post I explained how I overcame insomnia by doing a full yoga routine in the middle of the night.  I neglected to share with you, however, that certain yoga poses are especially helpful in helping you to unwind and prepare for a deep, restorative night's sleep.

In my opinion, one of the most effective, soothing yoga poses you can do to prepare for sleep are neck rolls.  When you get tense doesn't it seem that the tension attacks your neck and shoulders?  Your neck is a veritable magnet for tension and tighness caused by stress.  Thank goodness yoga offers an antidote!

I have explained the yoga neck rolls in a previous post several years ago.  However, since they are so relaxing and soothing and effective for relieving insomnia, I thought I'd present them again.  I love how the late journalist Jess Stearn characterized doing neck rolls - he called it "lubricating the extremities."  Just like Stearn, the first few times I did yoga neck rolls I could hear gritty noises as I gently rolled my neck around.  I felt like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz creaking as he moved until a can of oil brought relief!   Fortunately, consistent practice of the yoga neck rolls eliminates the crackling and creaking too!

As Eugene Rawls and Eve Diskin said in their 1960s book, Yoga for Beauty and Health, "The neck is a very delicate portion of the human anatomy and a universally recognized center of tension...Yoga techniques are exceptionally soothing for the neck since they are so scientifically methodically and extremely gentle."

I adopted and adapted the following yoga neck movements from what I learned from Stearn, Rawls, and Diskin.  I do these movements daily and feel like I am enjoying a mini shoulder and neck massage.  They are excellent for zapping tension.  Try them before bed and especially anytime you have trouble falling or staying asleep.  The following is an excerpt from my book, Yoga at Home:  Gain Energy, Flexibility, and Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day.

 

Neck Rolls 

Type of yoga pose:  Active, can be done standing or sitting

Body parts targeted:  Neck, upper back

How to do the pose:

1. Stand or sit erect and relaxed with your hands and arms at your sides or on your knees if seated.
2. Breathe in and out slowly and relax for a few seconds.
3. Inhale again and in slow motion, gently drop your head so that your chin is resting on your chest on or below your collarbone or as far as you comfortably can reach in the beginning. 

 Part 2

1. Hold for 2-3 seconds and exhale as you slowly raise your head and resume its upright position.  Repeat this movement two more times.
2. Inhale and gently drop your head toward your back so the back of your head is touching your back or as far as you can comfortably go.

 

Part 3

 

1. Hold for 2-3 seconds.  If you are very stiff and haven’t done many neck movements in years, you may experience some discomfort. Take it easy and move gently. Exhale and move your head back slowly to its upright position.
2. Inhale and turn your head as far as is comfortable to the left side (no, you are not going to do a full head turnaround as in the Exorcist!), hold for 2-3 seconds, exhale and return your head to the center starting position.

 

Part 4 

1. Be careful not to move your shoulders as you turn your head to the side.  You want to maximize the neck stretch.  Repeat twice more. Do the same movements to the right side and back 3 times.
2. Inhale and move your head straight downward to the left side as if you were going to touch your ear to your shoulder.
3. Hold for 2-3 seconds, exhale, and return head to upright position. Repeat twice more on left side.     Do the same movement on the right side 3 times. 

 

 

Final part

 

1. Inhale and drop your head very slowly until your neck is completely limp and your chin is resting on your chest on or below your collarbone, or as far as you can comfortably go—just as you did with the first neck movement.
2. Ever so slowly, roll your head to your right side.  Keep your neck loose and allow the weight of your head to stretch your neck muscles.
3. Imagine you are a marionette and someone is gently maneuvering the strings that move your neck.
4. Continue moving your head slowly until your head is touching your back as in the second neck movement explained earlier.  (You are making a half, not a full circle).
5. Exhale and gently roll head back to the front.  Lift your head and resume its upright position.  Repeat twice more on the left.  Do the same movements on the right side three times.

Number of repetitions:  3 on each side of all the positions - should take about 5 minutes

Key benefits from this pose: 

1. Helps warm you up for your yoga session.
2. Relieves stiffness, tension, and pain in the neck and upper back.
3. Enhances flexibility and mobility of the neck.
4. Helps tighten the area right under the chin.
5. Smoothes lines from the neck and helps elongate the neck.
6. Relaxes body and can relieve insomnia.

Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose:

The neck is an area of the body that often collects neuro-muscular tension that can cause pain and stiffness. Once, when I was 24 years old, I spent an entire day typing at an office. I barely moved as I focused on completing a project.  Huge mistake!  I put undue stress on my neck.  It became so stiff that I could hardly turn my head for the next 3 days! I had to take several warm baths before the stiffness eased and before I could resume turning my head and moving my neck normally.

Neck rolls are feasible for most beginners. If you have had any neck injuries or whiplash, first get a clearance from your physician or medical advisor. If done very gently, however, neck rolls can help to strengthen the neck area and heal it from injury. What I like about the neck rolls is that I feel as if I am getting a massage in my back, right below my shoulders. So soothing!

To enhance the relaxation effect of the neck rolls, close your eyes as you do them. In his book, Yoga—The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness, yogi Erich Schiffman says that keeping your eyes closed as you do the neck rolls “magnifies the beneficial sensations.”  Also, feel free to stay in each segment of the neck rolls for a longer time if you feel you need it.

At first, you may hear cracking or graveling noises in your neck as you move your head. I heard mild crunching at the top of my neck when I began doing neck rolls. However, with consistent, gentle practice, your head should revolve smoothly as if it had been well lubricated and any crunching or cracking noises should cease or be minimal.  Remember— never jerk your head in any way. Think  s – m – o – o – t – h   movement. You can fit in neck rolls throughout the day as an afternoon tension reliever at your desk or at night before sleep to relax you.

Yours for relieving tension with yoga neck rolls,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the Beginners' Home Yoga Coach